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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Return Home, Seek Definitive Win in I-75 Divide Cup Friday

January 21, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - After an eight-game road trip for Flint, the Firebirds are ready to return to the friendly confines of the Dort Financial Center for a pair of home games this weekend. First up is another installment of the I-75 Divide Cup, presented by Coors Light. Puck drop versus the Saginaw Spirit is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) Friday night.

Since they last played a home game on December 29, plenty has happened in the Flint Firebirds organization. For starters, they earned five victories in their eight-consecutive road contests. Three of those victories were over their in-state rivals in Saginaw. In the latter part of the away-game stretch, Zacharie Giroux was featured in the top-five "OHL Plays of the Week" twice. One was for a spectacular goal he scored against the Windsor Spitfires, dancing around defenders and displaying impressive stickhandling in the offensive zone. The other play was for his spin-o-Rama backhand pass to Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers), who scored on the one-timer in Erie against the Otters. Check out the video highlights of both goals HERE. Finally, Othmann has officially been named the Team Captain for the Firebirds.

As for Friday's tilt, this will be the 11th meeting between these clubs this season, and the 51st meeting all-time. The Birds hold a 6-4 advantage entering Friday's tilt. The first team to win seven games claims the coveted I-75 Divide Cup trophy, presented by Coors Light. Should the clubs each win six of the games, the goal differential shall determine the winner. Currently, the Firebirds are +7 in scoring versus the Spirit. One win would definitively secure the series victory, and bring the I-75 Divide Cup back to Flint for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

The last time these teams met was last Saturday at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw. Netminder Luke Cavallin earned his second shutout of the season, blanking all 25 Spirit shots. Simon Slavicek scored his first OHL goal, which ended up being the lone tally of the contest. More than 4,200 fans were in house to witness one of the most intense back-and-forth battles between this club in series history.

Leading the way for Flint through ten meetings with Saginaw are first-year forward Coulson Pitre and veteran forward Riley Piercey, each with eight points. Pitre has four goals and four assists, and Piercey has two tallies and six helpers. Brennan Othmann is third with seven total points (3 G, 4 A) in the series. For Saginaw, Grand Blanc, Mich. native Dalton Duhart (2 G, 7 A) and Dean Loukus (4 G, 5 A) are tied with nine points each. Rookie Matyas Sapovaliv has five goals and three assists versus Flint, and Josh Bloom (Buffalo Sabres) has three goals plus four helpers in the rivalry this year.

The Firebirds enter Friday's contest in second place in the West Division with a record of 18-13-0-2. The Spirit currently rank fifth in the West, with a 13-17-1-0 record. On home ice this year, the Firebirds carry a 7-8-0-1 record and Saginaw has gone 8-7-1-0 in away games. The Birds have picked up 13 points in their past ten games with a 6-3-0-1 record. The Spirit earned six points in their last ten, going 3-7-0-0 in that span.

All-time, Flint carries a record of 20-26-0-3 against Saginaw, with a home record of 9-12-0-3. Friday marks the 11th of 12 total meetings between the clubs this season, and the sixth and final match to be played in Flint. Thus far, the Spirit have won three of the five games played at the Dort Financial Center.

On special teams, Flint ranks 16th on the power play, converting at a 17.5% rate. The Spirit rank 19th, scoring at a 14.5% clip. However, in road games this season Saginaw has a 26.0% power-play efficiency, ranking them sixth in the league. These teams hold two of the top three penalty-kill (PK) rates in the 20-team OHL. The Birds are in the number three spot currently on the PK currently, holding their opposition scoreless 83.8% of the time. Saginaw's PK ranks first with an 86.0% success rate. For most of the season thus far, these clubs have held and traded the first and second PK ranking.

Players to Watch:

Flint Firebirds (18-13-0-2, 2nd West Division):

Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) remains on top of the scoresheet for Flint, now with 46 points (26 G, 20 A) in 31 games. He's tied for second in goals scored in the OHL, and he ranks eighth overall in total points. Othmann is also tied for the second-most shorthanded tallies in the league, with three. His 1.48 points-per-game average is the ninth-highest. Riley Piercey holds the second spot in scoring, and now has 12 goals and 20 helpers in 28 contests. Amadeus Lombardi ranks third for the Firebirds with 14 goals and 15 assists through 32 games played.

Flint's top defender Tyler Deline ranks inside the top-ten rearguards in the OHL in assists (T-6th) and power-play assists (3rd). For the season, Deline's scored three times and chipped in 21 assists for his club this season, with 13 of those assists coming on the man advantage. Noteworthy as well is rookie defenseman Tristan Bertucci, who is rated a plus-9 in the league's +/- ratings, which is seventh among first-year blue-liners. Players earn a +1 every time their team scores while they're on the ice, and a -1 every time they allow a goal.

Flint's top rookie on the scoresheet is Coulson Pitre with 12 goals and 13 assists through 27 games played. Pitre is tied for first atop the list of OHL rookies at .93 points per game, and he's tied for second for goals scored by a first-year player. Pitre is one goal shy of tying former Firebirds' captain Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) for the second-most goals (13) by a rookie in franchise history, and he's already earned more points than Dellandrea had (24). He's also on pace to surpass Brennan Othmann's (New York Rangers) rookie year numbers in goals (17) and total points (33) for the season. Both Dellandrea and Othmann were drafted in the first round of their respective NHL Draft year.

In net, Luke Cavallin has appeared in 25 games thus far, which is tied for third-most by any netminder in the OHL. He has 14 wins, which are also tied for third-most in the league. He carries a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.38 and his save percentage (SV%) is the eighth-best at .901. Rookie netminder Ian Michelone has now played in eight games and has four victories. He carries a GAA of 4.03 and a SV% of .889. To date, Michelone is the only active OHL rookie goaltender with a shutout this season.

NHL: The Firebirds have four players on their roster with NHL ties consisting of Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers). Also, Gavin Hayes and Simon Slavicek were recently named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.

Despite Flint playing in just five OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes / Detroit Red Wings), Kole Sherwood (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) are three former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) and Firebirds' alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit Red Wings) and Jalen Smereck (Arizona Coyotes) have all played in NHL pre-season contests. In total, the team has produced 21 signed or drafted players into the NHL.

Saginaw Spirit (13-17-1-0, 5th West Division):

Josh Bloom (Buffalo Sabres) remains atop the leaderboard for the Spirit with 29 points (15 G, 14 A) through 31 games. Bloom sits way atop the league's leaderboard for shorthanded goals with six this season, and his five game-winning tallies are tied for fifth-most. Rookie Matyas Sapovaliv, who is one of the highest-rated rookies in the league, ranks second for Saginaw in scoring. Sapovaliv has ten goals, which are tied for ninth-most among rookies, as well as 16 assists which are tied for sixth-most. His 26 total points rank fourth among all league rookies. Saginaw's top defenseman statistically is Pavel Mintyukov, who ranks third on the club in total points. His six goals are tied for eighth-most among defenders in the OHL, and he has 23 total points for the season.

Between the pipes, Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders) has appeared in 15 games and earned five victories. He carries a 2.79 goals-against average (GAA), which is fifth-best among all goaltenders with 10 or more appearances this season. His save percentage (SV%) is .897. Shelby Township, Mich. native Andrew Oke has played in 16 contests thus far in his rookie campaign, picking up seven victories. Oke carries a 4.27 GAA with a SV% of .852.

NHL: The Spirit have two players with NHL ties, consisting of Josh Bloom (Buffalo Sabres) and Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders). Additionally, forward Matyas Sapovaliv, rearguards Pavel Mintyukov and Roberto Mancini, and goaltender Andrew Oke were all named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.

12 notable Spirit alumni to play in the NHL are Cody Bass, Paul Bissonnette, T.J. Brodie, Matt Corrente, Filip Hronek, Jan Mursak, Jamie Oleksiak, Dalton Prout, Tom Pyatt, Brandon Saad, Chris Thorburn and Vincent Trocheck.

Broadcast Coverage:

Friday evening's contest against the Saginaw Spirit can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com, or by downloading the US 103 app here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin prior to puck drop at 6:40 p.m. (ET) Friday evening.

The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 463 (4463 HD) for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home or away all season long.

Also, all Flint Firebirds' home and away games throughout the 2021-22 regular season can be watched anywhere in the world online on https://watch.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league's new and improved video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost is $6.99 for 24-hour access, $24.99 for monthly access, $109.99 for all-access to the 2021-22 Firebirds and OHL season, or $159.99 for all-access to the entire 2021-22 CHL season.

Next Up: The Firebirds are scheduled to host the Kitchener Rangers on home ice Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center. Season ticket holders can use their ticket from the originally scheduled January 12th game for this Saturday's contest. Individual tickets purchased for the originally scheduled January 12th game are also to be used for this Saturday's contest. Tickets from the January 22nd game vs. the Soo Greyhounds (now postponed) can be redeemed for tickets to this Saturday's game vs. Kitchener. The game is also a part of Firebirds Fight Hunger Month. Fans can bring in a minimum of 5 non-perishable food items to receive a free ticket to the game. All can drive tickets already redeemed for the January 12th game will remain valid for this Saturday.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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